NCT
NCT is a South Korean boyband debuted under S.M Entertainment. The group consists of trainees from "SMRookies," a program created by the company in 2013 to promote their trainees. Its first unit, NCT U, officially debuted on April 7th. This group will be an "infinite group with infinite members," as members can be featured in multiple units and leave "whenever they want to." Pre-Debut SMRookies In November of 2013, S.M Entertainment launched "SMRookies," a predebut team to showcase trainees. The first few trainees that were shown were Seulgi (now debuted in Red Velvet), Irene (now debuted in Red Velvet), Jeno, and Taeyong. Sporadically, S.M. would release more "rookies" to the public through Twitter or Facebook and upload either YouTube videos showcasing the trainee's talent. EXO:902014 Trainees Taeyong, Jaehyun, Yuta, Mark, Ten, and Johnny were featured on their brother group's TV show, "EXO:902014." This brought criticism towards the trainees and the company as they appeared in many segments of the show; however, this gained more fans for the boys and anticipation for their debut. Notably, their performance of ShinHwa's "Wild Eyes" has over 300,000 views on YouTube. Taeyong Controversy In December 2014, rumors began to speculate about Taeyong's history prior entering S.M. Entertainment. Many claimed he was a "scammer" and a "bully." This was disregarded until actual proof was provided. At age 14, Taeyong was infamous for scamming users on an auction website and one user showed that Taeyong threatened him for reporting him. Also, comments of him fat-shaming a classmate and insulting Japanese students gained him a negative image towards the public. He quickly published an apology and went into reflection; however, to this day, he continues to receive hate daily and most netizens wish for him not to debut. The Mickey Mouse Club On July 9th, 2015, a version of Disney's American TV show, "The Mickey Mouse Club," was rebooted for Disney Channel (Korea). The show featured Super Junior's Leeteuk as host and nine of the younger members of "SMRookies": Mark, Koeun, Donghyuck, Jaemin, Jeno, Jisung, Hina, Herin, and Lami. The show contained many features from the western show like musical peformances or skits; however, it was altered to cater to the trainees and contained segments like how to act when filming commercials or how to choose "airport fashion." The show ran twelve episodes and ended on December 17, 2015. SMTOWN: New Culture Technology 2016 In late January of 2016, founder and main producer of S.M. Entertainment, Lee Soo-man announced his plans for the company's upcoming boy group. He said that the group will consist of multiple units all over the world and will debut two units in spring 2016. The group's name was clarified as "Neo Culture Technology," to demonstrate the company's hope for the group to expand K-Pop around the world. The member lineup was said to be "infinite" and that members can come and go. This brought negative attention and criticism; many fans and netizens agreed that this could be a risky move for the company and the trainees deserved a "normal" debut. S.M released three teasers for "NCT" during this presentation, one including the song, "Synchronization of Your Dreams" (later released as "The 7th Sense"). Neo Culture Technology U Debut On April 3rd, 2016, SM released teasers for their first unit of NCT: NCT U. The first two members teased were Mark and Jaehyun. Following the picture teasers, an official video for Mark was released the next day. Then, a teaser for Ten was released two hours later on the 4th; Taeyong, Doyoung, and Jaehyun's came afterwards on the 5th. SM then announced that the group will officially release their music videos on April 9th and 10th. They debuted on KBS Music Bank on the 15th with "The 7th Sense" and "Without You." NCT 127 On July 1, S.M. Entertainment announced NCT's second unit, NCT 127, its first geographically based unit. NCT 127 is based in Seoul, with the number 127 representing the longitude coordinates of Seoul. The lineup for this group consisted of Taeil,Taeyong, Yuta, Jaehyun, Winwin, Mark, and Haechan. They made their stage debut on July 7, 2016 on M! Countdown, performing "Fire Truck" and "Once Again" from their album, "NCT #127." During their promotion of "Fire Truck," NCT 127 collaborated with Coca Cola and released the track, "Taste the Feeling," for Korean advertisements. Also, deveral members of NCT 127 were featured on both Weekly Idol and MBC's "Idol Cooking King" that was aired during Chuseok. NCT Dream On August 18, S.M. Entertainment announced that NCT's third unit would be called NCT Dream and that the unit would have an average age of 15.6. The unit's lineup featured all of the boys from the program, "The Mickey Mouse Club," and added two unknown trainees Chenle and Renjun. NCT Dream debuted with the digital single, "Chewing Gum," that was released on August 24th. The boys made their stage debut on M! Countdown on August 25th. Trivia *NCT Dream members Renjun and Chenle were not included in SMRookies. Renjun was rumored to be a trainee prior to his debut and Chenle was an established idol in China prior to debuting. *As confirmed by Jaehyun, NCT U will be a rotational group that will change members whenever they make a comeback. *Mark, Jaemin, Jeno, and Haechan all attend School of Performing Arts Seoul. *So far, Haechan is the only NCT member to use a stage name as his real name is "Donghyuck." *Despite being the eldest members, Johnny and Hansol have yet to debut in an NCT unit. The delay of their debuts is controversial for fans of NCT. *NCT is currently the new face of the brand, "Ivy Club," and the face of "Lotte Duty Free." Members of NCT Category:Music Category:Male Category:Groups Category:K-POP Category:South Korean people Category:Japanese people Category:Thai people Category:Chinese people Category:Canadian people